Happy New Year and new chapter! I'll have you guys know I only cried four times writing this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy.
As always, please review :)
"I really don't think I'm ever going to get used to that." Izzy commented lightly as she looked at Bruce as they finished making tacos in the kitchen.
When Bruce had decided to lock himself in the gamma chamber, she had been in Wakanda. She had immediately raced back but she had been too late, and she had been convinced that it was going to be the last time that she saw the gentle scientist. However, as the days went by and his vitals slowly improved, stabilized, she began to see what he had been talking about.
"It's not that crazy." Bruce said shyly. "I'm still me, just a more complete version."
"And greener." She replied grinning. Her gaze softened. "I didn't say it wasn't a good thing." She grinned again. "Besides, it means we won't have to bring Veronica back any time soon."
FRIDAY interrupted the moment to let them know that they had new arrivals incoming.
Heading out, Izzy stood back, tracking the movement in the sky through her glasses as she watched Rocket's ship approaching along with the War Machine suit and a very familiar fire streak.
Johnny landed and she ran over to him, a brilliant smile on her face. He grinned and caught her, lifting her off her feet as he kissed her.
"Hey, hey!" Rhodey said as he landed, aiming the large shoulder gun at the two. The two looked at him, no longer kissing but she was still in Johnny's arms. "Just because you're engaged does not mean I want to see you kissing my niece okay. Save it."
Izzy chuckled as Johnny grinned. As Rhodey went to walk back into the building and Izzy moved to follow, Johnny wrapped a playful arm around her waist, pulling her back to him as he pressed a kiss to her neck making her laugh before taking her hand and walking in together.
Tony, Izzy, and Johnny immediately dove into designing the actual time machine while Bruce and Rocket went to retrieve Thor from Norway and Natasha went to find Clint.
…
Izzy brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes, making a face as it dripped with sweat and stuck to her neck, but she continued on with her work. She had to re-wire a massive amount of the compound in order for this to work and it was proving to be difficult. They had designed this structure perfectly to do its job, but this was something else entirely. She currently working on a utility spot in the main living area. She had all the furniture shoved aside and she had a big floor panel in the center of the room removed.
"Zee come on. You need to take a break."
She looked up as Johnny walked in. "I'm almost done." She said straightening to pop her back before going back to her work. She could just feel the frown that her fiancé was looking at her with, but she was almost finished.
"Glad to know somethings don't ever change."
That voice made Izzy's head snap up. Johnny was looking back, slightly obscuring her vision but as she stood, she looked at Natasha standing at the doorway with Clint standing slightly behind her and to the left.
Natasha and Johnny both looked between the two, unsure of what to do. While Izzy had never told them exactly what happened the last time that she had seen the archer, they could gather it was not good.
However, Izzy's focus was on Clint. As she walked closer, she could see the weariness that pulled his shoulders down and the pain that reflected back in his eyes as he looked at her. He remembered their last encounter as well as she did.
"Hey kid." He said quietly, carefully.
That was all the opening that Izzy needed as she took three long strides forward, Clint straightening up as she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "Welcome home." She said softly, just for him to hear. She smiled as she felt his arms wrap around her, squeezing tight as he buried his eyes in her shoulder.
Their quiet moment was wasn't meant to last.
"My friends!"
Everyone jumped at the booming voice and turned, Clint and Izzy separating. Each of their jaws dropping to some degree as they stared at Thor, or maybe the person who had eaten Thor. Very, very gone was the lean God of Thunder, replaced with…well…not that.
…
"Drifting left." Tony said causing Izzy to look up from where she was working with Rocket and Johnny. Tony was walking past Thor, who was ambling by in his sweatpants eating chips. "On the side there, Lebowski."
Izzy chuckled. Her favorite Asgardian looked like he had just stepped out of a frat house…or his parents' basement.
"Ratchet, how's it going?" Tony asked as he set down the cables he had been carrying.
"It's Rocket." The raccoon said in annoyance. "Take it easy. You're only a genius on Earth, pal."
Tony looked amused as he turned to Izzy. "How are Bruce, Nebula, and Lang coming on the suits?" He asked.
"Should be nearly complete with the modifications I made." Izzy said. "If we get to actually meet Hank Pym when this is over, we need to collaborate. The man was definitely on to something."
After she finished up with her side of the machine, she left Johnny, Tony, and Rocket to finish up while she went to check in with the suit team. Today they were supposed to test if the machine actually works.
As she walked down the hall, she saw Rhodey exiting one of the conference rooms.
"Hey." She said. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah." Rhodey said with a sigh. "Just checking on things since we're all here, it means no one is out there."
Izzy nodded. After a second she smiled. "You're always so good at managing things like that." She said. "You should have followed through on that Presidential run. You would have at least made VP if you didn't win."
Rhodey laughed quietly. "No, this was the right choice." He said after a second. He put an arm around her shoulders as they walked. "How are you doing?"
Izzy rolled her eyes. "I'm really tired of people asking me that." She said. "I promise, I'm doing good."
Rhodey nodded. "You know we all love you." He said. "And don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see you doing more than just helping to run SI. You've been glowing since you dove into this project, but we all still worry."
"I know." She sighed. "But I'm past that I promise. No craziness, I'm being responsible, I'm engaged…"
"Yeah, you know that still makes your dad and I cringe okay." Rhodey said.
Izzy laughed and stopped giving him a hug. "Thank you for always looking out for me." She said. "I love you Uncle Rhodey."
Rhodey kissed her cheek and returned the tight hug.
Izzy stepped back after a second and they continued down the hall. "And I am still getting married." She had to throw in as they reached their destination.
They took in the white suit that Scott was wearing as they approached. It was similar in design to the Ant-Man suit, but with a few other modifications from the earlier designs. It would allow them to be more stable and not risk getting their brains completely scrambled on their trip.
"Time travel suit?" Rhodey commented. "Not bad."
Nebula was adjusting a piece on the back of the suit as Bruce went to put the container with the Pym Particle into the belt of the suit.
"Hey, hey, hey." Scott said. "Easy, easy!"
"I'm being very careful." Bruce said.
Scott was sounding more wound up than usual. "No, you're being very Hulky." He snapped taking the canister.
"I'm being careful." Bruce replied in annoyance.
"These are Pym particles, all right?" Scott said. "And ever since Hank Pym got snapped out of existence, this is it. This is what we have. We're not making any more."
Izzy raised her eyebrows at his little rant.
"Scott, calm down." Rhodey said calmly.
Scott took a breath. "Sorry." He said. "We've got enough for one round trip, each. That's it. No do-overs. Plus, two test runs—shit—" He pressed a button on his belt and shrunk before popping back up. "One test run." Izzy covered her eyes as Rhodey looked down. "All right. I'm not ready for this."
"I'm game."
Izzy turned to the quiet voice and saw Clint leaning against the glass doorframe, his Ronin tattoo sleeve lit up more in the lab lighting for her to focus on the details. "Clint…"
"I'll do it." Clint said resolutely.
It didn't take long to get him into the suit and Nebula and Izzy went through the final adjustments as Bruce ran him through the scenario.
"Clint, now you're gonna feel a little discombobulated from the chronoshift." Bruce said. "Don't worry about it."
Clint nodded.
"Wait a second, let me ask you something." Rhodey chimed in drawing their attention. "If we can do this, you know, go back in time, why don't we just find baby Thanos, you know?" He mimed the action of trying a rope around a neck and strangling it.
"First of all, that's horrible." Bruce said.
"It's Thanos." Rhodey replied.
Bruce shook his head. "And secondly, time doesn't work that way. Changing the past doesn't change the future."
"Look, we go back, we get the stones before Thanos gets them..." Scott said. "Thanos doesn't have the stones. Problem solved."
"Bingo." Clint said.
"Not 'Bingo'." Izzy said.
"That's not how it works." Nebula said at the same time.
Clint shrugged. "Well, that's what I heard."
Izzy looked at him in disbelief.
"What? By who?" Bruce said. "Who told you that?"
Rhodey started counting off. "Star Trek, Terminator, TimeCop, Time After Time,"
"Quantum Leap." Scott threw in.
Izzy sighed in annoyance. "We've talked about this."
"A Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time, Hot Tub Time Machine. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Basically, any movie that deals with time travel." Rhodey continued not having heard her.
"Die Hard?" Scott said. "No, it's not..."
Ignoring that statement, Rhodey said. "This is known."
"I don't know why everyone believes that, but that isn't true." Bruce said. "Think about it: If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future. And your former present becomes the past. Which can't now be changed by your new future..."
"Exactly." Nebula said.
"So Back to the Future's a bunch of bullshit?" Scott said in disbelief.
Izzy sighed and motioned for Clint to follow her. They got out to the finished platform of their time machine. She directed Clint on where to stand while they made some final adjustments, and everyone gathered to watch.
"All right, Clint." Bruce said. "We're going in 3…2…1…"
Sensing her nerves, Tony gripped her hand as they watched. Izzy held her breath as she watched Clint disappear from sight. It was only seconds before he reappeared again.
Clint dropped to his knees with a pained cry. Izzy ran forward, Natasha right at her side.
"Hey, hey. Look at me." Natasha said. "You okay?"
The two helped Clint to his feet, his eyes a little wide from shock.
"Yeah." Clint said. "It worked." He looked at the two before looking up at the others. "It worked."
…
"Okay, so the 'how' works." Steve said as they gathered in one of the conference rooms. "Now we gotta figure out the 'when,' and the 'where'. Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones."
"Well, I'd substitute the word 'encounter' for 'damn near been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones'." Tony interjected as he paced around.
"I haven't." Scott said. "I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about."
"Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of
different places throughout history." Bruce said.
"Our history." Izzy said. "So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in."
"Which means we have to pick our targets." Clint said from where he stood next to her.
"Correct." Tony said.
Steve shoved his hands in his pockets. "So. Let's start with the Aether." He said. "Thor, Isabel, what do you know?"
Izzy sighed as she sat on the armrest of the sofa next to Johnny. "The most I remember is flying outside of that angry storm in London." She said. "Nothing really helpful."
They all turned to Thor, who hadn't moved for a while.
"Is he asleep?" Natasha asked.
"No." Rhodey said. "I'm pretty sure he's dead."
Once they were able to rouse the big guy, Thor stood by the holo monitor that showed the reality stone.
"Where to start? Umm…" Thor removed his sunglasses, looking a bit hungover. "The Aether, first, is not a stone. Someone's called it a stone before. It's more of a…an angry sludge, sort of thing. So…Someone's gonna need to amend that and stop saying that."
Izzy sighed and settled in on the sofa, draping her legs over Johnny's, seeing that this was going to go off the rails fast.
"Here's an interesting story, though. About the Aether." Thor continued. "My grandfather, many years ago, had to hide the stone from the Dark Elves. Scary beings—Isabel you know—So Jane... Oh, there she is." He said looked at the monitor with Jane Foster's picture. "That's Jane…She's…an old flame of mine. She…she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time…and then the Aether stuck itself inside her." Steve furrowed his brow and Johnny and Izzy both choked back a chuckle. "And, she became very, very sick. So, I had to take her toAsgard, which is where I'm from. And we had to try and fix her." Scott was the only one enthralled at the story. "We were dating at the time, you see. I got to introduce her to my Mother…who's dead, and umm…" Thor started to tear up and Bruce motioned for them to cut it off. "Oh, you know. Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, so…These things happen though, you know. Nothing lasts forever. The only thing that…"
"Why don't you come sit down." Tony said walking up.
"I'm not done yet." Thor insisted. "The only thing that is permanent in life, is impermanence."
"Awesome." Tony muttered. He turned to look at everyone. "Eggs? Breakfast?"
Thor sniffed. "No. I'd like a Bloody Mary." He said with a smile.
…
After amassing some information over the Reality Stone, they moved on to the others.
"Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag." Rocket said as they all sat around the table eating Chinese food for dinner, the Power Stone projected in the middle.
"Is that a person?" Bruce asked.
"Morag's a planet." Rocket said. "Quill was a person."
Scott looked up. "Like a planet? Like in outer space?" He asked.
"Oh, look. It's like a little puppy, all happy and everything." Rocket said sarcastically. He pat Scott on the head. "Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I'll take you to space."
"How did we ever get anything done?" Izzy whispered quietly
…
"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir." Nebula spoke in her usual hoarse tone as she stood against the wall.
"What is Vormir?" Natasha asked taking notes on a legal pad.
"A dominion of death, at the very center of Celestial existence." Nebula said and everyone looked up at her. "It's where…Thanos murdered my sister."
…
"That Time Stone guy…" Natasha asked into the silence, lying on top of the conference table.
"Doctor Strange." Izzy supplied as she sighed in exhaustion, rubbing her eyes from where she was reclining against Bruce, who was lying on the floor.
"Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?" Natasha asked.
"Neurostuff meets rabbit from a hat." Tony replied from his spot on the table. "Nice place in the village, though."
Bruce nodded. "Yeah. Sullivan Street." He said.
"Bleecker." Izzy corrected.
"Wait, he lived in New York?" Natasha said.
"No. He lived in Toronto." Tony said sarcastically.
Natasha ignored that. "Guys, if you pick the right year, there are three stones in New York." She said.
Everyone paused and Bruce sat up forcing Izzy to sit up as well as he exclaimed. "Shut the front door!"
…
"All right. We have a plan." Steve said as they all gathered together. "Six stones, three teams, one shot."
They gave themselves a day to prepare for the coming mission.
Izzy and Johnny walked outside together.
I don't like that I can't go to watch your back." Johnny said as they walked, his hand gripping hers tighter than normal.
He was going to remain at the compound while she was going to New York with Tony, Bruce, Steve, and Scott.
"I know." She said. "But we don't have enough Pym Particle for you to come and for Scott to be able to shrink when we need him to."
He knew this but it didn't make it any easier. After a second he smiled faintly at her. "When you get back, we're going to have to finally set a date." Johnny said pulling her close.
Izzy smiled up at him, but she felt a sinking feeling in her chest about this mission. She shoved it down though, they were so close, this was going to work. Suddenly, she had a thought. "Why do we have to wait?" She asked thoughtfully.
Johnny gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"Why do we have to wait?" She asked. "We can have a big wedding with everyone after this works, but almost everyone is here. We can video chat mom and Morgan. Rhodey can marry us, he married dad and mom."
Johnny smiled. "Are you serious?" He asked.
Izzy smiled brightly.
…
Izzy took a deep breath to steady herself as she smoothed her hands over the simple red dress, the only one that she had at the compound, feeling nervous. Her long raven locks spilled down her back and over her shoulders, creating a slight curtain.
"Did I look that nervous when I said, 'I do'?"
She looked up at Tony. "Probably." She said. "Did you feel this sick?"
"Most definitely." Tony laughed lightly. His eyes softened, filling with unshed tears. "I can't believe I'm about to watch my baby get married."
Izzy felt tears flood her own eyes, threatening to fall. "Dad," She said, voice halting with her own emotion.
Tony pulled her into a crushing hug. "No matter what happens after this, know that I am and always will be, so proud of you." He said.
Izzy sniffed slightly and hugged him back just as fiercely and spoke softly. "I love you 3,000."
A gentle knock on the door caused them to step apart. Natasha poked her head in the door.
"You ready?" Natasha asked taking in the emotional pair.
"Yeah." Izzy said. "Just one second."
Natasha walked forward producing a handkerchief to clear the smudges of mascara under Izzy's eyes. She smiled and hugged her. "You got this." She said.
"Thank you, Nat." Izzy said hugging her tightly.
Natasha held her hands for a second, smiling, pride in her eyes before she turned to go get her seat.
Taking a deep breath, Tony straightened his suit and held out his arm for her. Smiling, feeling butterflies in her stomach, she took his arm and they moved into the main room that had been shifted around to accommodate their need. The sofas had been pushed into uneven rows with a small aisle leading up to where Rhodey stood as the official. She smiled as she saw all the people that she called family look back at her, also seeing Pepper watching from the monitor with Morgan on her lap watching. Izzy's eyes landed on Johnny and for a second everything just seemed to be right.
Tony paused at the end of the aisle and turned to look at her, kissing her cheek before placing her hand in Johnny's and going to take his seat.
Izzy smiled up at Johnny and he grinned back at her.
"I told you red was your color." He quipped, the clear flames dancing in his eyes.
She laughed and shook her head.
If someone asked her later on to remember the ceremony, she wouldn't be able to remember much (thankfully FRIDAY was recording) but she would remember the butterflies in her stomach being replaced with fire when Johnny kissed her, now officially her husband and she would remember the feeling of joy and completeness from having those that meant the most to her there to share the moment.
Now they just had one more job.
…
Dressed in her suit, Izzy stood with Johnny at the platform waiting for the others. They had gotten up earlier than the others to spend as much time as they could together. He held her close, her arms around the back of his neck as they shared a kiss only pulling away from each other when they heard the others approaching. He squeezed her tightly once before stepping off the platform to join Bruce at the control console.
"Five years ago, we lost. All of us." Steve said looking around. "We lost friends…We lost family…We lost a part of ourselves." Izzy reached out and squeezed Clint's hand, he gripped her fingers back for a second. "Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams; you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win. Whatever it takes." He looked at Tony, who gave half a smile. "Good luck."
They all moved to stand in a circle on the platform slightly separated into their teams.
"He's pretty good at that." Rocket commented.
"Right?" Scott said.
"All right." Tony said. "You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jelly green."
Bruce gave Johnny a few instruction and keys the controls. "Tractors engaged." He said.
Clint looked down at the shrunken ship in his hand.
"You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?" Rocket asked.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." Clint shrugged after a second. "Okay. I'll do my best."
Rocket scoffed. "As promises go, that was pretty lame." He said.
Natasha smiled as she looked over at the others. "See you in a minute."
I may have cried more than four times. Also I'm sorry about the fluffy bit but I will talk more about it once we wrap up Endgame. Please don't throw things *hides*